Away From Home
Chapter Twenty-Four
By Andruindel
lilililili
The next morning I woke up to something rather creepy. The first I knew of it was that the weight of a figure other than my own had come to rest on the foot of my bed. Assuming that I had overslept, and that Matsuda had come to wake me, I rolled over, fully ready to wake up. In reality, it was six fourty-five in the morning, and the person sitting on the foot of my bed was L.
"L?" I was too half asleep to bother diving under the covers, so instead, I made myself comfortable in my new position, curling up with Panda and looking curiously at L.
He was sitting cross-legged on the end of my bed, gnawing on his thumb-nail, his eyes large and unwavering. "I have something rather important on my mind." He started.
"Mm?" I was too tired to form a complete word.
He moved abruptly, coming out of his cross-legged position and shifting to sit closer to me. I was forced to move aside and give him room to sit beside me. "I disapprove of your feelings for Matsuda." It was hard to decipher his words, since he was still gnawing his thumb-nail. "Light would be a much more suitable match for you, as he is your age, while Matsuda is nearly eight years your senior."
I couldn't believe what he was saying to me. "Really, L?" I sat up straighter, running my fingers through my hair and yawning. "I have one thing to say to you, and then I have a question. First, I do not like, and will never like Light. And, why are you trying to hook me up with a Kira suspect? Everyone knows he's a suspect, and personally, I think you're right in believing that he could be Kira."
Still half-asleep, I watched L consider my question. It was nice when I could actually see his thoughts passing across his face. I felt like I actually knew L when I could see his thoughts clearly.
"I was not trying to... 'hook you up' with Light-kun." He hesitated with the phrase, but then carried on in full flow. "I simply wish to inform you that someone so much older than you is not a suitable match."
"L, stop." I pushed myself up onto my knees and faced him seriously. "I don't need your advice, my love life is just fine without your help. And why do you care so much anyway?"
"I don't," L faced me. My bed was only big enough to allow so much room, so we were closer than we had ever been before.
"You don't?" I cried, my voice rising slightly. "If you don't care, then why do you act like you care? If you don't care, then why are you even here at seven in the morning, making sure I know that, apparently, Light's the only good choice I could make in the area of 'matches' as you call them?"
L did not respond. He stared at me, and that was when I realized that in my passion, I'd shifted even closer to him. We were literally inches away. He looked rather taken-aback by my outburst, and he had never looked more adorable, sitting with his thumb in his mouth, and his eyes wide. Suddenly, I realized how much I liked him. I'd never let myself think about the full depth of my feelings before.
I had to get away from him. "Okay, just forget it." I jumped up, and fled my room, leaving L behind, staring after me.
lilili
Thankfully, L had much to do that day, as he had since the previous day. He was watching the footage from the cameras they'd put up, which meant he had very little time to spend thinking about me. Though, when I thought about it, he was probably capable of thinking about more than one thing at once, which meant he could very well have been thinking about me. Personally, I was doing my very best to avoid thinking about him.
After eating a hurried breakfast, I slipped past L, who was already busy staring at the television. The blinds were drawn, and it was very dark. L seemed to like the dark. I did too, I realized as I stepped into my room and into blinding sunlight. As a result of L's love of the dark, his room was facing to the North, while mine was facing directly into the East, meaning I got direct sunlight while he got only indirect sunlight. Cursing, I gathered Panda into my arms, and then stepped back into the work room, where I found the coziest corner, curled up with Panda, facing the wall, and ignored L.
I was still there, in a half-asleep state, when the others arrived. None of them seemed to notice me, as I hadn't moved upon their entering, and I wasn't making any attempt to draw attention to myself.
When the group saw what L was doing, Aizawa spoke up. "Were you actually going to watch all the footage by yourself?" He asked, obviously incredulous.
"Yes," L answered him. "I think it is very likely that the two Kiras made contact on that day, so I want to check all of these tapes personally." As he spoke, he never took his eyes from the screen. I knew that somewhere in all that tape, I would show up.
My attention wasn't caught by the conversation until a few seconds later, when L mentioned that he wanted Mogi to follow Light. Eyes still closed, I moved into a sitting position, and then swiveled so that I was facing the room, my back to the wall. Then I opened my eyes in order to watch L.
"You want Light followed?" Chief Yagami asked, shocked.
"It's only a slim chance," L's eyes still never left the television screen. "But if Light is Kira, then there is still a possibility that the second Kira will try to contact him somehow."
Chief Yagami looked grim, but he accepted L's request. "Very well..." He muttered sullenly.
Silently, I watched as Aizawa stepped closer to Matsuda, confidentially close. "I'm beginning to wonder if Ryuuzaki is even human. The guy never sleeps." He muttered, glancing suspiciuosly toward the afformentioned detective.
"I saw him sleeping in that exact same position the other day." Matsuda replied, crossing his arms and staring at L.
L's eyes were focused almost unblinkingly on the television screen. He seemed to have been eating ice cream off and on all day. I had no doubt in my mind that Watari was somewhere in the hotel suite, lurking, waiting to cater to L's every whim. At least L wasn't using me for that today.
After watching the group for a while, I stretched, yawned, and stood up. Matsuda glanced my direction, and a smile lit up his face. I approached him, knowing that I would get a hug and some attention from him, at least. L was thouroughly occupied with the tapes. The only time he moved was to either take a bite of his ice cream, or put a new tape into the player so he could continue watching the footage.
Just like I'd know he would, Matsuda stood up and hugged me. Feeling oddly down, mostly because I knew I wasn't going to be getting much attention from L for the next day or so, I let the hug linger, pressing my face into Matsuda's chest, and breathing deeply.
"You smell good," I breathed, rubbing my cheek lightly against the front of his shirt.
"Thanks," He was embarrassed. I could tell by the tone of his voice.
Smiling, I finally pulled away from him, and, spur of the moment, decided I was going to spend the day with Matsuda, even if I was just watching him work.
lilili
By the next evening L had finished watching all the videos, and I knew he probably hadn't found much. Obviously, he'd been too busy to pay much attention to me, but I hadn't minded. Not really. Well, maybe I'd minded a little bit...
...Or a lot...
Yes, I had to admit to myself as I sat quietly in the background, watching the group at work, it had bothered me that L had been too busy to pay attention to me. I couldn't help it. After all, he had finally started showing some interest in me (for heaven's sake, he'd asked me whether or not I liked Light!) and then, all of a sudden, I was shoved into the back seat by the Kira investigation. I knew I was being selfish. The rest of the world needed L far more than I did. But still.
I sat in my corner, cross-legged and bored, watching the group. Another video from the second Kira (Misa, I thought to myself) had just come in. And almost right after L got the video, Light came in. Too grumpy to care much about what happened around me, I silenty observed as they watched the tape, and then discussed it. I was in the perfect position to watch L, and it was with silent delight that I watched him pick up a chocolate donut, lick it once before speaking, and then lick it several more times.
My imagination went a little wild at this point, and I'd really rather not dwell on details.
The next thing I knew, I was being snapped out of a delightful daydream by a startling statement. "I feel you're the first friend that I have ever had."
I stared, shocked, for I had completely forgotten about that part of the anime. Pain shot right into my heart at his words; Wasn't I L's friend? Why was Light his first ever friend? He'd known me far longer than he'd known Light! A lump caught in my throat; the effort of keeping down my tears physically hurt me, but somehow, I managed. I turned my head, afraid that someone might notice my plight, but no one did. They were all focused entirely on L and Light.
The rest of the night went slowly, and painfully. By the time the others were getting ready to call it a night, I was sick of looking at L. My heart ached to think that he counted Light as his very first friend, while I was just some girl who was currently living with him. What had happened to his concern for me?
I caught Matsuda as he was heading toward the door, reaching out and grabbing his sleeve just before he could open it. "Matsu, can I come home with you tonight?" I asked, gazing beseachingly up at him.
He stared at me for a minute, obviously thinking over my request. "I guess so.. But why?"
I glanced over my shoulder, just enough to bring L into view. "I just... I just don't really want to be here tonight." I didn't want to give him details, at least not when L was within ear-shot. If Matsuda asked for details later, then I'd gladly give them, though I wasn't sure if I'd be able to explain it to him.
He seemed to understand, at least a little. "Alright. I can't promise a perfectly clean place, but it's not that bad."
lilili
Not that bad was a gross over-statement. Matsuda's apartment showed all the signs of a single man living there: empty pizza boxes and soda cans lying unused and unwanted, an untidily made bed in the one small bedroom, and a rather rotten smell coming from the small kitchen area. But at least the bathroom was clean, I was relieved to notice when I peeked into it.
"You can have the bed," Matsuda offered. "I'll put clean sheets on it for you."
I declined the offere stubbornly. "I'll sleep on the couch," I told him.
He seemed loathe to let me sleep on the couch, but I finally argued him down, and he lined the couch with blankets and pillows. I smiled to myself as I watched him, but my smile quickly faded when I remembered why I was there. When he had finished making the couch into a suitable bed, I sat down, sighing heavily.
"Are you okay, Amy?" He sat beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders comfortingly.
"Not really," I sighed again. "L said.. he said that Light is his first friend..." I could feel the tears threatening to fall again, and I turned my face toward Matsuda, hiding in his shoulder. His arms went around me, and he held me close while I struggled to gain control of the tears striving to fall. "But... if Light's his only friend, then what does that make me?"
Matsuda did not answer right away. He was obviously thinking deeply. He thought for so long that his phone rang, interuppting the moment. Apologizing, he pulled the phone from his pocket. I pulled away from him, scrubbing at my eyes.
"Hello," Matsuda answered the phone in a weary tone. "She's with me. Uh-huh... No, I'm sorry. Yes, I'll make sure... Uh-huh..."
I was in a fever of curiosity by the time he got off the phone. I looked up at him, and he looked down at me, smiling. "I'd say it makes you a little something more than a friend," He grinned knowingly. "That was Ryuuzaki, he was worried because he couldn't find you in the hotel."
I was a little skeptical. "Really?"
"Yes, really. I think Ryuuzaki likes you, Amy!"
lilililili
Hey, guys, sorry it's almost a day late. x.x I was super busy today (ahem cough). I was playing D and D with my bf and some friends of ours. It was totally epic. Either way, here's the weekly update I've promised you. I hope you like it, and thanks for reading. Things with L and Amy are getting serious, huh? ;D Don't forget to send me lots and lots of reviews! I love hearing what you guys think of my story!
